Mortgage Application Volume Fall to 11-Month Low

December 21, 2005

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending December 16 found the Market Composite Index — a measure of mortgage loan application volume was 594.6 -- a decrease of 4.0 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 619.3 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 5.2 percent compared with the previous week and was down 15.2 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.

The seasonally-adjusted Purchase Index decreased by 5.2 percent to 453.1 from 477.9 the previous week, whereas the Refinance Index decreased by 1.6 percent to 1418.1 from 1441.8 one week earlier. Other seasonally adjusted index activity includes the Conventional Index, which decreased 4.2 percent to 888.2 from 927.5 the previous week, and the Government Index, which remained steady at 105.0.

The four week moving average for the seasonally-adjusted Market Index is down 1.6 percent to 623.7 from 633.9. The four week moving average is down 1.0 percent to 475.6 from 480.4 for the Purchase Index while this average is down 2.7 percent to 1485.2 from 1526.7 for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 41.7 percent of total applications from 40.2 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 32.6 percent of total applications from 33.5 percent the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 5.76 percent from 5.83 percent, with points decreasing to 1.22 from 1.28 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs decreased to 5.41 percent from 5.50 percent one week earlier, with points increasing to 0.95 from 0.94 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.